It paints a grim picture about being a top New Zealand athlete, when one our leading sporting organisations is described to have reduced the mana among athletes.
This is just one of many scathing comments made by a panel that spent four months investigating Cycling New Zealand’s environment following the sudden death top sprinter cyclist, Simon Doherty. Olivia Podmore Aged just 24 in August 2021
The 104-page report contains almost everything. centralised programmeCambridge was called sub-optimal. Rules for speaking to the media were called chilling. CNZ and High Performance Sport New Zealand, their umbrella organisation, told to seriously investigate gender biases within their organizations.
The first Michael Heron QC-led investigation into the environment at CNZ was published in 2018. This was part of the 2018-2018 Latest inquirya look at whether the recommendations had been implemented successfully.
The short answer to your question is, policies were created. However, little has changed.
The report suggests that we should start with a clean slate. It seems that the days of a centralised cycling program for the top Cambridge athletes are over. Reconsideration is recommended.
READ MORE: Podmore Report: Olivia’s family hopes Olivia’s passing won’t be an accident
It has caused more problems than it solved, according to the report. This is due to the fact that it takes athletes out of their support networks and places them in a pressure cooker environment where they are pkeh-centric and male-dominated.
There were many questions following the death of Podmores about how women and their health were treated in the high-performance environment.
HPSNZ states that female health care is not related to performance and should be handled by GPs, but this is disputed by the panel.
They believe it is a performance issue. The absence of a holistic, effective system is harmful. It puts women in danger and could lead to unlawful discrimination.
The athlete agreements between CNZ and cyclists have been examined as they need to be addressed.
Athletes are contractors and not employees. This means that they don’t have basic protections such as minimum wage.
The athlete agreement requires athletes act in good faith towards CNZ, its stakeholders, but there is no corresponding duty for CNZ. This discrepancy is not principled and reduces the mana of athletes.
Although a new funding model was introduced in January 2022, it is still under review by HPSNZ.
According to the report, the system relies on athletes finding alternate sources of funding which makes it exclusive and inequitable. This furthers the assumption that HP sports is the preserve only of the middle-upper classes.
Friday, prior to the public release, The family of Podmore spoke to 1News They hope that the changes will be made within the organisations to ensure that her death doesn’t go unpunished.
